Alexis Gauthier is a multi-award-winning French chef and successful London restaurateur. In 2016 he became vegan, and in 2021 he removed all animal products from his restaurant menus entirely.
- What motivates you to eat meat free?
I do this 100% for the animals.
- What items are always in your fridge?
When in season: Aubergine. Other than that, houmous!
- It’sMeat Free Monday and you’ve got a friend coming round – what are you going to cook for them?
My ratatouille.
- What was the last thing you ate?
The incredible Egyptian falafel box from WowShee in Berwick Street.
- If you had to choose only one country’s cuisine to eat forever, which would you choose?
I recently fell in love with Eritrean/Ethiopian … possibly that. It feels like the original human food.
- Sweet or savoury?
Savoury
- Pizza or pasta?
Very difficult … but probably pasta.
- Tofu or beans?
Beans
- Mild or spicy?
Mild
- What advice would you give to people wanting to give meat free a try?
Don’t think about what is not there, think about what is there that you’ve maybe never tried before. Think new.
Alexis Gauthier has three vegan restaurants in London – Gauthier (the first classical French fine-dining vegan restaurant in the world), Studio Gauthier and 123V, and has curated a plant-based tasting menu at the Paradise Cove Hotel on the island of Mauritius with International Hotelier Attitude Hotels.